of Juneau County
The Messenger NECEDAH CARDINALS SOFTBALL VOL 15, NO. 40
LOOK INSIDE FOR YOUR LOCAL NEWS:
Elroy: Page 6 Mauston: Page 4 County: Page 3
New Lisbon: Page 8 Wonewoc: Page 14 Hillsboro: Page 12
Classifieds: Page 15 Legals: Page 16 & 17
THE AWARD WINNING OFFICIAL LEGAL NEWSPAPER OF JUNEAU COUNTY THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014
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Man charged with 4th OWI in 5 years BY EVA MARIE WOYWOD Joseph P. Wawroski, 44, of Necedah is facing a 4th offense in five years of OWI. The charge was filed in Juneau County Circuit Court on May 5, 2014 and if convicted he may be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than Joseph P. Wawroski six years, or both. According to the criminal complaint on Sunday, May 4 2014 at approximately 11:16 p.m. Necedah officer Adam Noe clocked Wawroski driving at 12 miles per hour over the speed limit. The officer followed the vehicle being driven by Wawroski and noted that a trailer being pulled by the vehicle did not have working running lights, however when braking the lights became operational. The officer initiated a traffic stop by activating his emergency lights. It was during the traffic stop the officer was able to smell the odor of intoxicants and Wawroski stated that he had earlier consumed three beers. When asked to do a field sobriety test Wawroski reportedly declined stating, "No, I'm not doing your tests. I'm not allowed to have over a .02. I'm f*cked, just take me to jail." The officer then requested another time that Wawroski comply with the test, to which he once again refused. Wawroski was placed under arrest and transported to Mile Bluff Medical Center for a blood draw. Wawroski has a prior OWI conviction in Juneau County dating back to 2009 and a 2008 conviction in Rock County. On May 5th he appeared before Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer and was placed on a $1,000 cash bond which was posted later that same day. Absolute sobriety is a condition of the bond. He is scheduled for a June 4, 2014 initial appearance.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES Tuesday the Ho-Chunk Nation's Bear Clan Singers and Dancers spent the day performing at schools within the Mauston School District. A few of the younger dancers happened to also be students within the District. Through dance, the performers gave a local history lesson on the area and the Ho-Chunk culture. Mauston students learned about the costumes and what they represented along with the significance of each of the dances.
Area municipalities join forces to deny Mile Bluff’s claim for tax exemptions; requests for tax refunds BY EVA MARIE WOYWOD Three Juneau County municipalities have joined together with the Village of Lake Delton and are standing firm in denying a claim
made by Mile Bluff Medical Center (MBMC) that, if allowed to go through, would result in MBMC side stepping a significant amount of property taxes for clinics in Elroy, New Lisbon, Necedah, and Lake Delton. On January 28, 2014 the City of Elroy, the City of New Lisbon, and the Village of Necedah all received a hand delivered notice signed by Mile Bluff Medical Center CEO James O'Keefe. That notice stated that the MBMC was issuing a Notice of Claim and Claim for Recovery of Unlawful Taxes. The claim stated that in February of 2013 MBMC had issued a property tax exemption to the accessor requesting property tax exemption under Wisconsin Statute 70.11 (4m)(a). The notice referred to the medical clinics in the named municipalities as Rural Health Clinics (RHC). According to the claims submitted, "RHCs are a special type of facility separately certified under the Medicare
program that must meet certain requirements that distinguish RHCs from ordinary physician clinics. RHCs are uniquely capable of furnishing health care services to patients in rural areas and provide access to services in areas that have been identified as having shortages of health care professionals. Being a provider-based RHC means that the Facility must follow federal Medicare regulations to show that it is fully integrated with the main campus of the hospital. These federal regulations require that a provider-based RHC be an integral and subordinate part of a Medicare participating hospital and be operated with other departments of the hospital under common licensure, governance, and professional supervision." The claims go on to assert, "The Facility qualifies for tax exemption under Section 70.11(4m)(a) of the Wisconsin Statutes as a hospital in accordance with the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in Covenant
Healthcare System, Inc. v. City of Wauwatosa, because, except as noted above, it is used exclusively as a hospital and it is not a doctor's office." In the case of Elroy MBMC states 99.3% of the clinic located within the city is used as a hospital and is subject to exemption - the remaining portion is used for doctor's appointments and may be taxed accordingly. MBMC was seeking a recovery $16,004.84 of the $16,117.66 assessed for the 2013 property taxes. The claim issued to the City of New Lisbon sought a recovery for 2013 property taxes in the amount of $51,349.39 of the $53,267 assessed. The MBMC claims that 96.4% of the clinic in New Lisbon is used as a hospital with the remaining used for doctor appointments. In the case of the claim issued to the Village of Necedah MBMC asserts that 96.9% of the clinic is used as a hospital with the remaining amount for doctor appointments and sought a recovery
of $19,283.19 of the $19,381.83 assessed. The claims are issued to the municipality in which the property was accessed. It is important to note that should the claims be honored, school districts, WWTC, and the County will also lose out on their portion of the property taxes that they had originally planned on and is a portion of the recovery MBMC is seeking. Banning together, the Elroy, New Lisbon, Necedah and Lake Delton in Sauk County have attained legal representation, Amie Trupke with Stafford Rosenbaum, LLP, a Madison law firm. According to Rosenbaum the ball is currently in MBMC's court as the claims have all been denied. From the date of the denial, MBMC has 90 days to file in circuit court. At this time Trupke stated no further actions have been taken by MBMC. The Messenger contacted MBMC CEO James O'Keefe and was referred by his administrative assistant to
their public relations director Kathy Behnke who stated in an email, "We are still considering all of the options, and have not made a decision yet." According to online tax records the MBMC is registered as a non profit charity, however the question that remains unanswered is if their clinics are RHC's and used as a hospital rather than for just doctor appointments. Tax records for 2011 show that the MBMC showed a total revenue of $64,088,664 with total expenses including salaries at $62,557,127. Those records also list compensation to officers, trustees and key employees. CEO James O'Keefe's total compensation including retirement and non taxable compensation was $329,862. The highest paid employee was surgeon Timothy Napier whose total compensation was $678,381. Charity care provided at cost by the MBMC was listed at $1,300,000.